CC Sabathia and Ichiro Suzuki were recently inducted into the Hall of Fame. Ichiro received 99.7% voting while Sabathia got 86.8%. Although not unanimous, they made it to the Hall of Fame with the highest votes. These fierce on-field rivals had mutual respect for each other. So, when CC Sabathia met Dan Patrick for an interview on the Dan Patrick Show he had a lot to say about the few times they met on the mound.

During the interview, CC Sabathia talked about his life both on and off the field. But when asked about his fellow inductee Ichiro Suzuki, “How did you do against Ichiro?”, CC Sabathia replied, “I bet you Ichiro has a good career batting average against me.” But it is too close to call. During the 67 times they faced off each other, Ichiro Suzuki had an average of .323 with 21 hits and 2 walks. And CC had a funny story to tell about one of these meetings.

He shares, “But I got a cool story. In 2006, I was struggling, trying to figure out, I needed a putoff pitch. I was trying to learn how to throw a cutter. Carl and I went out to the bullpen in Oakland. and he showed me a grip of how he threw his cutter. and I came out of the bullpen with an 82-83 mph slider. and I was like this thing is nasty, I can’t wait for my next start.” This is about one of the home runs that Ichiro Suzuki hit against CC Sabathia. With Sabathia wanting to improve his arsenal against batters, he wanted to learn how to pitch a cutter to put off batters.

“We go from Oakland to Seattle. Next time I come into a game I take it out there. and the first time I throw it in the game, Ichiro has hit it out the window. In my mind, I was like “Oh no. this is easy. It’s good” I was getting out with it, I was getting strikes with it. He comes up and hits it out of here.” He eventually learned a slider and started to use it. So when he played against the Mariners in 2006, he had a good game against other batters. But Ichiro Suzuki gave him a nightmare. When he tried to pitch the same slider that got him out against other batters, it went out of the park.

With both of them being inducted into the Hall of Fame, these memories will be cherished. The impact of Ichiro Suzuki and CC Sabathia will forever be there.

Ichiro Suzuki: the spark igniting the next wave

Ichiro Suzuki made his entry into Major League Baseball in 2001, with an earthquake-changing effect on the league’s overall landscape. Almost no Japanese player had successfully navigated the stringent world of MLB before him, but Ichiro changed all of that with his incredible hitting and never let his head drop from the task. A truly watershed moment occurred with his electrifying debut season where he, much to everyone’s delight, just had the uncanny knack for getting on base consistently, besides an unmatched speed.

Ichiro’s success opened the doors for many more from Japan to be successful. In ways that were more than just statistics, he became more of an ambassador, closing the gap between baseball cultures. His humility, professionalism, and no-nonsense focus on fundamentals touched a league of would-be players in Japan who can see that someday they too could win in MLB through talent, dedication, and not giving up.

Following Ichiro’s path, Hideki Matsui, Yu Darvish, and Shohei Ohtani stepped into the competitive environment of MLB. Not only did he show the feasibility of Japanese players but also raised the respect and admiration of Japanese baseball at the global level. His legacy extends far beyond his numbers: he is a true icon who inspired a generation of players and altered the landscape of Major League Baseball forever.